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Why did Michelson and Morley use mercury in the experiment to find the shift of the fringes?

April 26, 2017experiment fringes mercury michelson morley shift

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Why did Michelson and Morley use mercury in the experiment to find the shift of the fringes?

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The mercury did not have to do with the fringe shift directly: the whole interferometer apparatus was floated on a pool of mercury (a dense liquid, allowing heavy things to float on it) so that it could rotate smoothly.